Dave and Lillian Brummet offer tips, interviews and resources to inspire hope in individuals; helping them realize the value of their efforts, encouraging them to become more positive, proactive in life.

Nat Couropmitree joined us earlier this year in March to share his
thoughts on attaining clarity and comfort in life. We asked him to come back
and speak about conscious creation for business owners - specifically the
limiting beliefs that hold many holistic business owners from enjoying stress
less success.

Join us live (10-11 AM Pacific) and drop in the chat room - or access the archive of today's show at your convenience:

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Today we have children's author Mariosa joining us to speak about her passions for the environment and specifically the Monarch Butterfly,
spent many years as a Nature Guide in southern Wisconsin and also
raised a son with no TV. They grew vegetables for farmer's markets and
while gathering pumpkins discovered an injured Monarch butterfly.
Through research and personal experience they learned how to care for
her and just how special these butterflies are. Mariosa wrote and
illustrated a book about this true life adventure with the Monarch they
came to name 'Madame'. Madame became part of their community and effected
many who came to know and love her. Mariosa is currently living in
central Mexico very near the Monarch Butterfly Reserve and working to
distribute her book for free to Mexican children who live around the reserve but do not go to school.These are the future caretakers of those
precious wintering grounds of billions of Monarchs. www.madamesjourneyhome.blogspot.com

Q: How would a good friend describe you?

A: I
think a good friend might say that I am easy going and extremely
adventurous, with a willingness to try new things all the time. I have
heard my friends also describe me as inspirational many times.

Q: What are your long-range and short-range goals and objectives?

A: In
regards to the work I am doing now, my short range goals are to market
my book and that my personal story can build awareness of this
incredible creature and the treasure Monarch butterflies are . I am
working towards finding some funding to actually be able to give my book
away to the children in Mexico who live near the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. This is an
extremely special environment and only one of a few places Monarchs go
to survive the winter. It is also endangered because it is being
deforested at a rapid rate due to the value of the wood in the trees
that the Monarchs winter in.

My
long term goals would be to actually be able to facilitate tours for
anyone who would like to come to the Monarch Butterfly Reserve to see first hand
the miracle of this phenomenon. This is a incredible experience. You can
hear the sounds of billions of delicate wings as they fly all around
you. Definitely one of those bucket list adventures.

Q: How do you plan to accomplish your goals?

A: The
short term goal of finding funding for the purchase of my book, has
been through doing interviews and writing to foundations and agencies
both in the US and Mexico. So far, it has not produced any results but I
will continue to try to build awareness in the way we are doing here. I
am also hoping to do a large book fair this fall in Mexico.

In
the long term goal, I know many tour companies that run tours from San
Miguel de Allende during the Monarch season.Putting a tour together is
quite easy so it would just be a matter of marketing on my part.

Q: How do you determine or evaluate success in life?

A: Wow,
that is a very deep question. Personally, I define success in my life
as integrity. If I can live each day being in my highest integrity I
consider that a successful day. And I really look at success in the
shortest terms. Each day gives me the opportunity to start again.

Q: What inspires you about butterflies / the environment?

A: For
many years , I have had work that has been outdoors and year round . I
am truly inspired at the way nature reflects an absolute principal of
thriving and co-operation of species. It is totally interconnected.
Humans seem to have lost sight of their special role in this
interconnectedness.

The
butterfly, especially the Monarch, inspires us to look at this idea of
transformation. A caterpillar's journey into a completely new species is
astounding. As a caterpillar there are actually cells called imaginal
cells that cause the caterpillar to stop supporting the life of the
caterpillar and begin to form the new life called butterfly. Wow, perhaps
there is a lot for us to learn from this idea of imaginal cells.

Q: What is your opinion of the world today?

A: I
think that the world is in an evolutionary pattern that does not make
sense to many humans because it is at such an immense scale. but like
all nature, is on a journey that is part of a natural evolutionary
plan.I am excited to be in these times because they offer us, as a
species, the opportunity to completely shift our perceptions. In fact,
that seems to me to be the only way we will benefit the planet and our
species is if we can find that shift. I am grateful for that opportunity
personally to be a part of something so epic.

Q: What is your contribution to society as a writer?

A: When
my son was small we used to read books every night together. I
literally read thousands of children's books and the ones I could see he
loved the most were the ones he asked to be read to him many times.
These were the stories that opened my heart as well. They were told in
simple language and with creative illustrations. Many times they brought
tears to my eyes and lead us to long sweet heart centered discussions.
This is what I hoped the telling of our true story with Madame would be.
I hope as a writer I bring the gift of this special time to talk with
your child and discover that connection place that lives in both your
hearts.

Q: What is the important role that writers play in today’s world?

A: There
is a quote from Barry Lopez's book Crow and Weasel that
says,"sometimes people need stories more than they need food". I believe
that our stories are our way to connect from the heart and that that is
what makes them food for our souls. Writers who tell their stories with
heart and integrity have inspired my life in many ways and now I am so
proud I have the chance to share my story in the same way.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Today we will feature another Positive Eco-News segment... these segments air every 2-3 weeks of so on the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. Today we'll be offering lots of resources and discussing ways of reducing trash. Join us live (10-11 AM Pacific) and drop in the chat room - or access the archive of today's show at your convenience:

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Monday, May 28, 2012

“…Being very conscious –
we tend to head back to habit; it is about making that conscious effort. Once
you do, you can recognize that you are starting to feel better, and then you’ll
feel excited about it. …You have to change your mindset and not just thinking
of it as another thing to do on your list. It is about finding something that
works for you. Guilt will sabotage your best intentions so we have to get rid
of the guilt - but also accept the responsibility that for every action there
is a reaction. So I think one of the biggest challenges is learning how to accept
responsibility for every decision without experiencing guilt. ”

~ Denise Locsin

Today's quote was taken from the Conscious Discussions Talk radio show titled: Learn Healthy Habits ** (Click on the title to access the full interview)

-- Referral Corner --

It has been quite some time since we posted recommended resources for our readers - so here we go:

Urban Ore: is a company that works to end the the age of waste. They offer salvaging operations, reuse centers, material exchange opportunities, and more. "Throughout its long history, Urban Ore has worked on building the reuse
and recycling industries. It has been active in the politics of
recycling, participating in regional and national organizations as well
as countless activist and advocacy actions"

University of Cape Town Fund Inc: a charitable foundation formed in 1984 to support the university. One of the many inspiring projects the students and teachers are involved in is the Avian Demography Unit that
monitors the population of African penguins in South Africa.

Save Our Seas: ..."committed to protecting our oceans by funding research, education,
awareness and conservation projects focusing on the major threats to the
marine environment" This organization works tirelesly since 2003 to sponsor more than 150 projects in 42 countries.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Today's episode of Sunday Gardening will offer tips for gardeners, discuss common chores this time of year and more! Have questions? Garden problems you need help with? Want to share garden tips or resources? - Drop in the live chat room or you can also email them to us ahead of time and we'll cover them in this episode if time allows. Can't make the live show? - no problem, you can access the archive at your convenience later on.

Since we moved to the new
community – Creston BC – we were busy with settling in and doing various
projects to the house which we’ve talked about before on the radio show, such
as finishing the basement (putting in new flooring, building a bathroom and laundry room, insulating and dry-walling the walls, painting and some plumbing / ducting upgrades), new windows, doors,
attic insulation, etc. And we did most of this just after the move before the snow
fell and during the winter months. Because of this we haven't had a chance to do a lot for the community or the environment, as we normally do - except starting a compost, of course.

Since the snow melted in March and April – we’ve had a
chance to pick up trash along the street we live on, and several side streets,
the alley’s in the neighborhood and a couple of parks in the area. Just recently, we’ve moved up to another
neighborhood and started working on a popular dog walking area along the trails that follow the
railway tracks.

In just one hour we filled two grocery shopping bags with trash
– some of it was recyclable, and a couple of returnable containers – so when we
got home I went ahead and sorted through it for plastic lids, straws, bags and
other recyclables such as batteries. I've found that stepping
on take out drink containers and jugs helps by reducing how much space they take up in
the bag.

We noticed that along this new route there
was so much trash that it might take us several bouts to clean it all up. However along the streets we've already done people are being more conscious and fewer pieces of trash are accumulating than in the past. If an area is cluttered with trash people are more willing to drop theirs too - but if it is pristine they don't feel that dropping that gum wrapper (or whatever) is appropriate. So the streets stay cleaner for longer periods of time.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Today we will be featuring an article by Gabriela Casineanu - an Organization and Relationship Systems coach, facilitator, catalyst and thoughts designer. She assists her clients (professionals, companies and organizations)
to find success from within, by becoming more resourceful. Check out her
website http://thoughtsdesigner.com, and
subscribe to her monthly newsletter for more useful information.

Is The Workplace Environment Affecting
How Employees Work With Each Other?

Yes, the workplace
environment could shape the way employees work with each other!

While most people become
easily aware of the physical aspect of an unhealthy workplace environment, not
too many pay attention to the human behaviors that could poison the workplace
environment... or don't know what to do in such situations. And those behaviors
could damage the workplace relationships and affect how employees work with
each other.

Let's take look at some
poisonous behaviors:

Blaming/ Criticism. These behaviors, whether they start from the upper
management or within the team, have a high impact on how employees work
with each other. Who can perform well and enjoy the collaboration with
someone who always looks at the empty half of the glass of water, and sees
only to what else is expected, but ignores what was well done? Human
beings need encouragement for the things well done and the good behaviors,
not only directions and critiques. When someone takes the time to
acknowledge you and your work, you are willing to perform even better.

Stonewalling. Did you notice in the workplace people who don't want
to talk with each other? This is stonewalling. There might be reasons
behind that behavior, but perpetuating it could affect the work results.
In any workplace people need to communicate to understand the work
requirements, to ask/ receive feedback and to collaborate. And when
stonewalling kicks in, it changes the team dynamics in an unhealthy way.
Being open and asking questions could help ease the work atmosphere,
increase awareness about each other's point of view and the reasons behind
them (instead of getting stuck in your own thoughts and beliefs).

Defensiveness. This behavior is usually triggered by blaming or
criticism. When you notice reacting this way, step back a few seconds and
think: is it me or a certain behavior that is discussed here? Taking it
personal will lead into defensiveness, which will not make the situation
better. But being able to understand what is the "golden" aspect
of that discussion, and being willing to implement your learning could
lead to a more positive work environment. Accepting or perpetuating the
game blaming/criticism - defensiveness could escalate into a conflict,
that certainly is not welcomed in any workplace.

Contempt could include sarcasm, belittling, cynicism,
name-calling, hostile humor, and belligerence. It is the worst of the
poisonous behaviors mentioned in this article, because it could harm the
health of an individual. Who would like to be part of a team when this
behavior is present, and silently accepted? Not only it makes people feel
bad (even if they're not directly involved), but people tend to close themselves
in such conditions or they form silos based on the power they think they
have (or not) on others, not based on the work tasks and projects they are
involved in. Communication and collaboration between people from different
silos are also affected.

If you are confronted
with any of these behaviors, keep in mind that most of the others reactions are
based on their own issues, not yours. These behaviors might be triggered by
something that you did or said, or not. The important thing is to keep your calm
and not feed one of these behaviors by using another one.

Taking responsibility for
your own actions, is another important aspect to ponder. Even when you consider
inappropriate the others behaviors, there might be something to learn from each
situation.

There are so many aspects
of the workplace environment that affect how employees work with each other.
What do you think about this topic?

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Friday, May 25, 2012

“…When I started out with
interviews in 98 I would write out a dozen questions or more, specific
meticulous questions – then it evolved into more of a conversation… These days
I still write out the questions, but often we don’t even use them because I allow
for spontaneity, as sense of dialogue. I want my readers to know what the
person is really like, the person behind the image. I still do the research – and
then I give access to the core of the person. …When we published the magazine
people would come to us asking for an interview, but I am also a voracious
reader and if I like the book I might reach out and contact the author or
publisher for an interview. …I see writing as a way of getting thoughts out of
our minds and onto paper. When I write it is usually done on a computer,
because it flows more easily and I don’t have to edit. …But when you write the
words out we can see what we are feeling, we realize that we thought that way,
and some of our entrenched patterns over time. It is a way of tracking where we
have been.”

~ Edie Weinstein

Today's quote was excerpted from the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show interview titled: World of Writing *(Click on the title to access the full interview)

Blog Hop

We are proud to offer yet another Blog Hop contest for our blog readers...

...a set of 6
bookmarks as a prize this week since a lot of reading tends to be done over the summer months and most readers can find a use for bookmarks :) These
newly designed bookmarks are printed on 100% recycled content paper stock and with 100%
veggie inks. They were printed by a company that is only 12 hours away
from our city (by car) and were delivered to us by Greyhound. The
bookmarks feature nature photography taken in BC (Canada) by Dave Brummet, who also did the graphic work for these bookmarks.

We will start by offering a package of 6
bookmarks for this contest, however we may offer this to 2 winners if
we get a lot of interest. Similar contests we held for bookmarks in the past resulted in over 70 entries, and so depending on the
results we might offer 2 prizes this week.

Draw begins on MAY 24th (midnight) and ends on May 31st (midnight).

To
enter our draw simply leave a comment on this post, along with your
email address so that we can contact the winner of this e-book prize.
Alternatively email us your entry: ldbrummet(at)yahoo(dot)com

** Check out other blogs offering similar contests via the link below:

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Today we’ll be covering a very serious topic – World
Poverty… we’ll learn how we can pool our efforts together and work toward understanding poverty,
why it happens, and what we can do about it. Award-winning film-maker Dan
Parris is our guest of the day; he is the owner of Speak Up Productions LLC, and considers himself an activist whose
lingering questions after returning from Africa serve as the fuel for his
passions today. We’ll learn about his experiences, and we’ll discover numerous
ways to work with non-profits to end poverty issues from education and shelter
to basics like water.

Join us live and drop in the chat room ...or access the archive of today's discussion at your convenience via the link below:

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

“…Our society on a whole
is in a huge transition. …What we’ve been working on in our school is helping
young people realize why they want to have values in their life. When you do
help other people, you do feel a joy inside – helping them find the meaning and
value for their life. …It is a chaotic world to grow up in – but we can show
kids that there are a lot of inspiring people out there, and that those values
are inside themselves. …When children are given this, their natural learning
tendencies come out. …[Teaching] isn’t just having kids memorize, or coercing
them or threatening them – you really feel like you are communication with the
person. Would you rather spend your time learning about things that have no
meaning, or would you rather learn about generosity and other life skills? …Education
is just upside down, people are blind to the fact that if you try to push kids
in this direction you get alienation, you get sad and unmotivated people, you
get enormous complications in the classroom. ”

~ Nitai Deranja

Today's quote was taken from the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio interview titled: Raising Conscious Children (Click on title to access the full interview)

-- Conscious Living Event --

May 23,
2012 to May 25, 2012

Recycling Council of BC’s 38th Annual Zero Waste Conference

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Author Francine L. Trevens was a published poet in her teens. She
directed plays from teenage to the present, was a columnist and theater/dance
critic for various newspapers, worked as a free lance writer for national
magazines, wrote the dinner theater segments, and has authored 8 published
books. Francine and her children are all involved in the world of writing – and
she has a huge passion for childhood literacy. Developing a love for reading
starts very early – and this is why Francine is here to teach us more about
bedtime storytelling.

Join us live and drop in the chat room ...or access the archive of today's discussion at your convenience via the link below:

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca
* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!